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Arsenal face a nervous wait over a couple of injury concerns going into the October international break.
The Gunners claimed a 2-0 win over West Ham on Saturday to move to the top of the Premier League table, as they capitalised on Liverpool's defeat to Chelsea later in the day.
Mikel Arteta will now have to wait almost two weeks until Arsenal are back in action in the Premier League, where they will next face Fulham on October 18.
Between now and then, Arsenal will be hoping that a couple of injury concerns improve before the return of top-flight football.
Martin Odegaard is the latest player to suffer an injury, with the Arsenal captain being withdrawn in the first half of the win over West Ham.
Arsenal later confirmed that Odegaard had suffered a medial collateral ligament injury in his knee during the victory over the Hammers, and as a result has withdrawn from the Norway squad during the international break.
Odegaard has been dealing with a shoulder injury for much of the campaign, and could now spend some time on sidelines in recovery with a knee issue. Arteta provided an update on Odegaard's fitness after the win over West Ham, which came before the full extent of the injury was confirmed.
“I think he [Odegaard] had a clash, knee-to-knee and immediately he was uncomfortable," Arteta told reporters on Saturday. "I just spoke to him and he is not positive about it.
“He has got a brace on. We will have to wait from the doctors but we have been very unlucky with that. Yeah, we haven’t had him since the start for one reason or another. The shoulder twice and then this injury.
“We have to wait and see the extent of the injury. We will have to find solutions, but obviously he is our captain and is a player that gives us a completely different dimension with things that he can do, especially in the attack. Let’s wait and hopefully it is not that bad.”
Arsenal may also have concerns about Declan Rice's fitness, after the midfielder was forced off with a potential back injury during the win over West Ham. Arteta provided an update on Rice's fitness after the victory, though it is expected that he will link up with the England squad for their games over the next couple of weeks in a boost to the Gunners.
"Well, he's not alright because he asked me to come off, so that's a shame," Arteta said on Saturday.
"So, he had pain in his back and he could not carry on, which is something very unusual for Declan, so we'll have to assess him and see how he is."
Arsenal already had Gabriel Jesus, Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz on the sidelines with injuries before the win over West Ham. Piero Hincapie has also been sidelined with a groin injury but is expected to return after the international break.
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